Trustees

Dr Rachel Caswell studied medicine at Trinity College, Dublin, and graduated in 2001. She completed HIV and Sexual Health training in the UK and works as a consultant in University Hospitals Birmingham Trust. She has a specialist interest in health’s’ response to sexual violence and is involved in research within this area.

Louise Jackson is Lecturer within the Health Economics Unit at the University of Birmingham. Louise’s research focuses on economic evaluations in sexual health and women’s reproductive health. She is involved in many research projects that aim to improve sexual health. She also undertakes research which aims to explore the methodologies used to measure outcomes and costs in these areas. Louise is also Director of Teaching for the Health Economics Unit at the University of Birmingham, and is the lead for two MSc programmes.

Dr Mathew Page studied medicine at Birmingham University, graduating in 2008.  He currently works as a GU/HIV specialist registrar in University Hospitals Birmingham.  He is a member of several committees within BHIVA and BASHH, and is currently serving a 3-year term on the Specialist Advisory Committee for GU Medicine for the JRCPTB.  He has a specialist interest in the sexual health of GBMSM and blood-borne virus testing, and is involved in research within this area.

Professor Adrian Palfreeman  is a Consultant Physician and Honorary Professor in Infectious diseases at Leicester University currently working in vaccine research. He was formally a Consultant in GU medicine and HIV in Leicester and a Senior Clinical Scientist at the Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit at University College London. He was previously the Vice chair of the British HIV Association and chair of its Guidelines sub committee.

Professor Jonathan Ross is a Consultant in the Department of Genitourinary Medicine, Whittall Street Clinic, Professor of Sexual Health in Birmingham City University, Professor of Microbiology and Infection at Birmingham University, and has a long record of research. His MD project was on The Epidemiology of Gonococcal Serovars. His interests are chlamydia, pelvic inflammatory disease  sexual behaviour and epidemiology of gonorrhoea and chlamydia.

Dr Mohsen Shahmanesh (Hon Secretary) is a retired Consultant in Genitourinary Medicine and HIV at Whittall Street Clinic and Hon Clinical Lecturer at the University of Birmingham. He was editor of Sexually Transmitted Infections and Chaired the Specialist Advisory Committee (SAC) to the Joint Committee for Higher Medical Education at the Royal College of Physicians on training in genitourinary medicine, and a member of the Expert Advisory Group on AIDS to the Department of Health. His research interests were the effects of HIV and its treatment on metabolism.

Former Trustees

Sue Beardsmore, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees, has worked for BBC television as a senior Broadcast Journalist for more than 25 years on daily news as a reporter and one of the main presenters of Midlands Today. She is now a freelance consultant and trainer, working in this country and abroad. She has worked with and for a number of community organisations in the West Midlands – concerned with health, education and the arts. Although not a native of Birmingham, she has lived in the city since 1977. She is Chair of Governors at a Birmingham Primary School; and the Chair of the West Midlands Committee of the Heritage Lottery Fund. (retired 2020)

Malcom Gibb. Malcom sadly passed away January 2015.

Charles Jordan is Chief Executive of Servol Community Trust, a non-Executive Director of Northern Birmingham NHS Mental Heath Trust, a local magistrate, and a trustee of Eric Vincent Trust. He has qualifications in business management, applied psychology of mental illness, human resource management and law.

Helen Pattison is Professor of Health Psychology and Head of Department of Psychology at Aston University School of Life and Health Sciences, Birmingham.  She conducts primary and secondary research on various aspects of health behaviour, including sexual health behaviour.  She has particular interests in children’s and young people’s health, parental health behaviour and innovative health technologies such as home-testing for STIs. (retired 2019)